Megaupload Founder Hid From Cops in Panic Room

Police raid Kim Dotcom's fortified mansion
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2012 8:38 AM CST
Megaupload Founder Hid From Cops in Panic Room
Megaupload.com employees Bram van der Kolk, Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann, and founder Kim Dotcom (aka Kim Schmitz), appear in North Shore District Court in Auckland, New Zealand, Jan. 20, 2012.   (AP Photo/Greg Bowker, New Zealand Herald)

New Zealand police raided the fortified mansion of Megaupload founder "Kim Dotcom" today, and the arrest did not go smoothly. Police tell the AFP that when they arrived, Dotcom, who is also known as Kim Schmitz, "retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic locking mechanisms," eventually barricading himself inside a safe room police had to cut their way into. Once inside, they found Dotcom, 37, near what looked like a sawed-off shotgun.

"It was definitely not as simple as knocking at the front door," a detective said. Police arrested Dotcom, seized the gun and his pink Cadillac, and froze some $8.8 million in assets. Dotcom was denied bail, along with three other Megaupload employees. The arrests come at the behest of US authorities, who are seeking extradition. The FBI shut down Megaupload yesterday, accusing it of copyright violations; click to read about Anonymous' reaction. (More Kim Dotcom stories.)

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